This week, the world's most sparkly, most musical, most eye-poppingly beautiful circus came to London: the Victoria's Secret show. Almost 50 of the world's most famous models landed in the capital on Sunday and proceeded to pose and smile and blow kisses all the way to the catwalk, while many bemused Londoners - heading to work on Bond Street as 47 of them stopped traffic outside the brand's store, or disembarking at Earl's Court station to be faced with 40ft posters and signs warning of "VS traffic" - found themselves asking: "What's it all about?"
"This is, without question, the most exciting show you can do," Lily Aldridge told us. "It's every model's dream to be a Victoria's Secret Angel, and to walk that runway. There is such a mix of girls here, including a lot of girls who do the high-fashion shows, but here you get to show your personality."
"I definitely get much more adrenaline than for any other catwalk show," seasoned catwalker Sigrid Agren told us. "Every year you think, 'They can't do anything bigger than this,' but the next year it's bigger and more impressive. It's not like any other show; it's more about the performance. My favourite thing about Victoria's Secret is the feeling just before the show; the atmosphere. I mean, it's the most watched fashion show in the world - in over 190 countries - so that makes it even more amazing."
The backstage area is about the size of a football pitch and everywhere the eye lands is pink and sparkly and in constant motion. A team of more than 50 hair and make-up artists primp and preen the girls as they mingle with groups of journalists - almost 400 throughout the morning - who are escorted to the space by security personnel who would not feel overwhelmed if transplanted to the White House. Despite the frenetic pace of operation beautify, the models are as serene as Yoda, although a lot more photogenic, smiling for selfies and chatting with friends as if dancing in their lingerie in front of millions of people was something one does every day.
"I'm like a bubble about to burst, I'm so excited!" second-timer Josephine Skriver beamed. "I honestly feel like when I was a kid the night before Christmas, I could hardly sleep last night thinking, 'Let's do it already!' Nothing compares to the feeling of doing this show. It's the greatest, most fun show you can imagine. It's not like any other runway show, so there's nothing you can really do wrong out there. You just have to be yourself and enjoy it; wave, dance, blow kisses; own your moment. It will be over so fast, so you've got to make it feel longer. They're taping it twice so don't worry, if you fall over they're going to cut it out anyway."
Even in a machine as well-oiled as this, there are mishaps: Candice Swanepoel remembers tying shoes - that felt fine in rehearsal but huge immediately before the show - onto her feet using bra straps; and several years ago, Lindsay Ellingson managed to smile through her walk despite ripping her skintight red suit just before taking to the catwalk. At Victoria's Secret, all problems have a solution: "I had an earring that kept falling off in rehearsals," Josephine Skriver joked, "so hopefully they got that superglue working!"
Although featherlight and beautiful in appearance, the show's centrepiece wings often weigh as much as 40lbs, but not one model is wishing for their costume to be less dramatic.
"I've worn some of the biggest and heaviest wings over the years and so now I think they feel they can trust me," Lindsay Ellingson told us. "They're like, 'Give them to Lindsay!' We had a fit model trying on the costumes and I asked her, 'Which wings are the hardest?' and she said, 'Yours' - but I love a challenge, it just makes it that much more exciting!"
Like its models, the company doesn't shy from challenges, bringing this year's show to London to increase international awareness despite the logistical and practical trials that the journey created. Whether the financial gamble will pay off remains to be seen, but in terms of spectacle and press coverage, the decision must be worth its weight in gilded wings already.
"I got lots of sleep on the plane," Doutzen Kroes, eight-time Victoria's Secret model and mother of two told us. "Some of the girls were chatting but my baby is only four months so I was like 'Sleep!' I'm still pumping so I was waking up now and then to do that, but the great thing about being in London is that we're all together - in New York everyone goes home. Here, we're all in the same hotel, on the same floor, and seeing everyone all the time just made it so much more fun."
The lead up to the show involves a much documented, much Googled period of body preparation by the models. Liquid-only diets the day before the show - and protein-rich diets of up to 6,000 calories a day in the weeks before that - help create the physiques that we see in the final images and subsequent show footage. Backstage, it's easy to feel like David Attenborough in some remote location, admiring a species that is similar, but not quite the same as you and I. But not everyone is admiring.
"Now and again you get comments like, 'Go eat a burger' and that's annoying," Sara Sampaio - the model who hit back at feminist website Jezebel for an article about her entitled "Even Victoria's Secret Models Hate Themselves" - told us of the feedback she receives on social media. "I've been skinny all my life but for Victoria's Secret I work out really hard. I am much healthier now than I was two or three years ago, but I've always been athletic. I did all sorts of sports growing up - karate, swimming, volleyball, dance - and I'm not the healthiest eater, I'll admit that, I love junk food. So, because of that, I work out. I just think no one should try to make their body something that it's not. My body doesn't have a lot of curves; I have small breasts, I don't have hips - so I'm not going to try to make myself something that I'm not. I'm just going to try to be the best version of myself."
The company's recent "Perfect Body" campaign was lampooned, with critics complaining it implied that the only "perfect" body was a slim one (the name was subsequently changed to "A Body For Every Body"), but most of the girls speak of being glad to be able to finally show off months of hard work on the catwalk.
"It's become what everyone watches during Christmas time, and knowing that everyone's watching, that definitely gets the nerves going," Shanina Shaik told us. "The size of the venue, too; when we walked out, we were like, 'Wow, this is like an actual concert.' Some of the wings are heavy, but honestly we're so fit right now, we could carry anything. I think after the show everyone is looking forward to a cheeseburger."
For those who have never been to the show, the chosen performers are a good indication of the atmosphere that organisers are trying to create and, certainly, people who wouldn't enjoy a Taylor Swift concert probably wouldn't enjoy the atmosphere at the show. The Brits made for a more subdued crowd than the whooping New Yorkers, prompting Ed Razek, the brand's chief marketing officer, to offer a speech urging us to "get your butts off your seats" for the evening show, which felt only slightly like a telling off.
The show, which many of the models compare to Broadway rather than a traditional catwalk one, was no less sparkly and glamorous than its American counterpart - and since the lingerie brand's parent company, L Brands, generated more than $7 billion in sales last year it's safe to assume that as a marketing expense it is well worthwhile. That said, the show has received criticism over recent years as its profile, scope and reach has grown - with some saying the models are presented as not much more than glorified page-three girls; Barbie dolls sexualised for men, infantilised with wings and glitter; a sort of carnival of PG Playboy bunnies. The Victoria's Secret line centres on empowerment and independence, and the company asserts that its female customer makes up more than 90 per cent of its demographic. But how do the girls themselves feel?
"You want to show a strong, powerful, sexy woman who feels confident - it really is empowering," Agren, a Chanel favourite, went on. "I think that is what they are looking for when they do the casting. It's not just about the look; it's a lot about the personality. You're selling a dream - the wings, the amazing costumes - it's fashion, it's not meant to be too serious."
Granted it's not a standard catwalk, and aside from the fact that the girls are wearing lingerie rather than ready-to-wear or couture, there are several other big differences. The average age of the models on the Victoria's Secret catwalk is much older than a fashion-week catwalk; and this year's Fantasy Bra models Adriana Lima and Alessandra Ambrosio (both on their 15th show) are in their mid-thirties. The ethnicities of Victoria's Secret girls are much more purposefully diverse - with representatives from every continent walking each year to ensure the brand's global appeal. The Victoria's Secret models also earn infinitely more than their catwalk counterparts - and, with the exception of Kate Moss and Natalia Vodianova, almost every model who has ranked in the top 10 highest earners according to Forbes over the past decade has been a Victoria's Secret model. The earning power of the top few is matched only by the top three or four actresses in the world, but even more crucially than that, people know who they are. The insistence by the lingerie brand that every girl "be herself" helps each one create a persona and therefore a brand with which to take her modelling career to the next level - and the results can be lucrative to say the least.
"It's so different than a normal fashion show, because during fashion week you're not there for yourself, you're there to show six months of work by a designer; their collection; their ideas," Sampaio said. "You're really just there to be a rack for their clothing; to make their clothing look good. But here I'm walking as Sara, it's more about the person."
Current Angels and alumni - from Tyra Banks, Heidi Klum, Miranda Kerr and Gisele Bündchen to Karlie Kloss and Lindsay Ellingson - have built brands off the back of the personality that they were allowed to show when promoting Victoria's Secret, both on and off the catwalk.
"I'm transitioning just now," said Lindsay Ellingson - previously an Angel, but not in this show. "I love Victoria's Secret, and I'll be happy to do the show for as long as they want me, but I'm also starting a cosmetics line, Wander Beauty, which launches in the spring. My friends call me 'the walking Sephora' and I have learned so much over the years, so that's definitely my next big project."
"I will keep doing this as long as I can hold back nature," Adriana Lima - show veteran and the self-confessed "mother Angel" - told us. "I never want to retire, so I'll do this for as long as my body can hold out!"
"I feel the opposite of her!" Alessandra Ambrosio laughed. "I don't want to go on forever. I know there comes a time that I'll have to hang up my wings, and I'm OK with that. Everyone moves on eventually."
So, what is the circus all for? Is it really about selling lingerie? No more than the Dior couture show is about selling fragrance - and yet that is the unspoken aim, and the end result. But, certainly, it does far more good than harm in career terms.
"Working with Victoria's Secret gives you a ready-made family in fashion," Candice Swanepoel noted. "You get to know everyone, not just other models but the hair and make-up people, so that on other jobs, there's always someone you know. And shooting for Victoria's Secret in beautiful locations, with people you get along with, I mean - who wouldn't want that job?"
